Twelfth Night — Vessel Cuppers and Rabbit Skins

Shipwrecked twins, a lovesick duke, and fools making merry, Twelfth Night spins a tale of romance, laughter, mistaken identities into a midwinter’s dream. But long before Shakespeare penned his whimsical play, there was an age-old tradition associated with Twelfth Night, rooted in pagan customs and echoed across Britain for centuries – wassailing.

The purpose is to coax the spirits into ensuring a bountiful harvest in the upcoming season. The ritual typically involves a festive trip to a nearby orchard, featuring singing, dancing, imbibing, and all-around revelry, complete with sips from a communal wassail bowl. It’s inseparably intertwined with the Christmas spirit¹‘Wassailing │ Twelfth Night Traditions’. 2024. National Trust <https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/art-collections/wassailing-ritual-and-revelry#> [accessed 5 January 2024].

Cleveland folk clung stubbornly to the belief that misfortune would befall those who shunned the first wassail cup singer, fondly known as the ‘vessel cupper,’ who had the privilege to pluck a leaf from the holly and evergreen adorning the ‘crib,’ a leaf deemed a surefire remedy for toothache.

The Stokesley poetess Florence Tweddle penned a couple of verses about ‘Vessell Kups‘ in her poem on the age-old customs of Cleveland, written in the distinct Cleveland dialect:

An’ efter Martenmas is tonn’d,
Then t’ Vessell Kups they bring :
It ‘s bad luck te tonn t’ fost away—
Yan’s fooast te let ’em sing.²After Martinmas has turned, Then the Vessel Cups they bring. It’s bad luck to turn the first away— One’s fastest to let them sing.

They hev tweer dolls put in a box,
Deck’t round wi’ greens an’ flowers.
They say it’s Vargin an’ her Son,
An’ this they sing at ‘t doours—³They have two dolls placed in a box, adorned with greens and flowers. They claim it is the Virgin and her Son, and this they sing at the doors.

The tradition still thrived back in the 1920s. According to a report in the Darlington & Stockton Times, the scene in Great Ayton wasn’t exactly a heartwarming tableau. A young lad, with a distinct nasal melody, went around the village chanting the usual refrain, “God rest yer all a merry, gentleman,” whilst eschewing the usual festive symbols of the manger, the Holy Infant, and His mother.

Instead, he was on the lookout for rabbit skins. Now I’m not well-versed in the market value of rabbit skins in the roaring twenties, but despite the letdown for the children, I reckon he must have raked in a tidy sum from folks eager to sidestep any potential misfortune.

• 1
  ‘Wassailing │ Twelfth Night Traditions’. 2024. National Trust <https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/art-collections/wassailing-ritual-and-revelry#> [accessed 5 January 2024]
• 2
  After Martinmas has turned, Then the Vessel Cups they bring. It’s bad luck to turn the first away— One’s fastest to let them sing.
• 3
  They have two dolls placed in a box, adorned with greens and flowers. They claim it is the Virgin and her Son, and this they sing at the doors.